“Did you see what he was fucking wearing? What’s with the khakis? And the button down shirts? It’s like eighty degrees outside! He’s such a weirdo,” Dania smirked, stuffing fries into her mouth.
We were by ourselves for once. Stu had lunch detention. Reggie was out sick, and Shane had cut school after Algebra this morning. It was rare that we weren’t surrounded by our miscreant crew. It was nice though. I loved Dania, even if she was a total bitch. But I didn’t care for any of the others. They were part of my circle for the only reason that they were as fucked up as I was.
“Look, there he is! I wonder what he has in his lunch today. I’ll be right back.” Dania got up and I knew she was going to go take Flynn’s lunch. It had become a sadistic ritual every single day.
I knew what would happen.
Flynn would yell. He would cry. Dania would cackle and steal his food as though it didn’t matter that she was relentlessly hurting someone who couldn’t defend himself.
I reached out and grabbed a hold of Dania’s arm. “Hold on a sec. What’s your hard-on for Flynn? Why do you have to give him such shit all the time?” I asked, not able to help the bite in my voice.
Dania looked surprised by my question. As though she had never really thought about it before. “Does it matter?” she asked coldly, her eyes narrowing.
“Well, yeah it does. I’ve never seen you be such a heartless bitch before, D. I just don’t understand what the hell that kid has ever done to you,” I said, finding that I was getting really angry.
“He deserves it—“ she began but I cut her off.
“He deserves it? Why? Because he’s different? That’s not fair, Dania. We’re not in any position to give anyone else a hard time. Look at where we came from. Look at who we are. Leave him alone. Let him eat his goddamned lunch,” I practically begged her.
Dania looked over at Flynn. His head was down and his focus was entirely on his lunch as he shoveled food into his mouth. I knew that he was eating as fast as he could because he knew that Dania or Stu would take it from him if he didn’t.
Dania looked down at my hand still wrapped around her wrist. Then she did something astonishing. She sat down, her back to Flynn and continued eating her lunch.
I looked at her, waiting for her to say something.
But she didn’t. She just ate her lunch.
I knew that for a second, she had heard me. That she knew what I said about Flynn was right. But I also knew that tomorrow, when Stu and the others were by our sides, all of that would change again and Flynn would once more be their target.
And I would be there, watching it happen.
I knew that Dania and I were one and the same. We were both cowards. We were both too pathetic to ever stand up against what we knew was wrong. We were both self-destructive in the worst ways.
Dania wasn’t all bad. She was just stuck…just like me.
**
“May I speak with Ellie McCallum?” a woman’s voice asked after I answered my phone.
“This is Ellie McCallum,” I said, shooing Murphy back inside the house. It had just started to snow and I had to be at JAC’s in less than an hour. The weather report was calling for up to six inches of snow, which would make driving home after my shift a little more dangerous than I was comfortable with.
I was used to driving in the snow but Flynn lived down a gravel path that was never plowed. And I didn’t particularly relish the though of having to hike a mile from the main road late at night.
“This is Wilma from Lambert and Associates. I apologize that it’s taken me so long to get back to you after your interview. We’ve had quite a number of applicants.”
I felt the air rush out of my lungs and I sat down at the kitchen table, my pulse fluttering with nerves.
I had all but written off the receptionist position because I hadn’t heard back. I was trying really hard not to get disheartened by the continuous barrage of rejection.
I’ll find something,had become my force fed mantra.
“I understand,” I said, lying through my teeth. I wanted to tell her that it was beyond messed up to leave me hanging like that. Didn’t she realize how much I needed a job thatwasn’tat JAC’s Quick Stop?
Of course my employment crisis didn’t matter to anyone but me.
“Well, I wanted to see if you were still interested in the position as I’m starting to schedule second interviews for next week.”
I stopped myself from bouncing out of my seat and dancing a jig around the kitchen. But I did indulge in a righteous fist pump in the air.
